ITV, the renowned, has revealed an impressive lineup of presenters, analysts, and commentators for its live coverage of the highly anticipated 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. With an aim to deliver comprehensive coverage and expert analysis, ITV has assembled a stellar team to guide viewers through the thrilling tournament.
Headlining the coverage is main presenter Laura Woods, alongside esteemed broadcasters Seema Jaswal and Michelle Owen. Joining them is ITV’s Women’s World Cup squad, comprising a group of renowned football personalities who will provide expert insight, opinion, and analysis. The squad includes Eni Aluko, Karen Carney, Jill Scott, Emma Hayes, Fran Kirby, Lucy Ward, Siobhan Chamberlain, Emma Byrne, Vicky Losada, and Jen Beattie.
The commentary duties will be handled by a talented team consisting of Seb Hutchinson, Sam Matterface, Pien Meulensteen, and Tom Gayle. Reporting on the tournament will be the experienced Katie Shanahan, who will bring the latest updates and stories from the event.
ITV plans to broadcast live games on ITV, with simulcast on ITVX, its streaming platform. Additionally, viewers can catch highlights on ITVX, ensuring they do not miss any of the tournament’s exciting moments. ITV Football’s social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, will also provide comprehensive coverage and additional content for fans to enjoy.
The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be hosted jointly by Australia and New Zealand, and all 64 matches of the tournament will be broadcast in the UK on either ITV or the BBC. The exception to this arrangement is the Final, which will be shown simultaneously on both ITV1 and BBC1.
ITV will air coverage of half of the tournament’s matches across ITV1 and ITV4, except for three dates where simultaneous kick-off times in the final group games will be shown across both channels. ITVX will provide simulcast and catch-up options. Match highlights will also be available on ITVX and ITV’s social media platforms.
Due to the tournament’s location in the southern hemisphere, kick-off times will be early for UK viewers, with three-quarters of matches starting between 8 am and midday UK time.
ITV’s coverage of the group stage will include two of England’s matches: their opener against Haiti and their final group game against China. On the tournament’s opening day, ITV will showcase the Republic of Ireland’s clash with co-hosts Australia. ITV will also feature the Canada versus Ireland match during the group stage.
Moreover, ITV will broadcast Portugal’s match against the World Cup holders, the USA, as well as Germany’s encounters with Columbia and Morocco. Other matches involving top-ranked nations, such as France versus Jamaica, Brazil versus Panama, and Vietnam versus the Netherlands, will also be shown on ITV.
As for the knockout stages, ITV has secured first and second-choice coverage for the Quarter-finals, and will also broadcast the third-place play-off and the Final.
In addition to the live coverage, ITV’s social media channels, particularly @ITVFootball, will share near-live clips from every ITV game, along with talking points from studio pundits. On ITVX, the network’s streaming platform, highlights of every game from the tournament will be available to watch at a later time.
Niall Sloane, ITV Director of Sport, expressed his delight at assembling a squad of some of the biggest names in the game for the network’s comprehensive coverage of the Women’s World Cup. He emphasised the viewer-centric approach, highlighting the team’s expertise, fantastic insight, and top-notch analysis. Sloane acknowledged the growing popularity of women’s football and anticipated that the upcoming tournament would be the biggest yet.
Notably, ITV and the BBC have partnered with the EBU (European Broadcasting Union), a collaboration of public service media organizations in Europe, to enhance their coverage of the event.
With the excitement building ahead of the tournament, ITV has also launched an on-air promotional campaign for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023. The campaign features real lionesses filmed in South Africa, showcasing the growing passion, interest, and engagement following the success of the Lionesses in the 2022 Euros. The promotional trailers, currently airing across ITV platforms, aim to rally the nation as people prepare to support the Lionesses in Australia and New Zealand.
Set against various scenarios in the UK, the ad depicts different groups of people engaged in activities such as playing football, riding bikes, and conversing. The surreal yet awe-inspiring sight of real-life lionesses startles a man relaxing in a park, capturing the attention of viewers. The lionesses are seen prowling in unexpected settings throughout the UK, including on top of a parked car, in the background of office video calls, at a cafe, at the gym, running down a residential street, and even cozied up on the sofa at home with a family, ready to watch an England Lionesses match. The campaign concludes with the tagline, “The Pride Has Arrived.”
The Women’s World Cup further enriches ITV Sport’s impressive portfolio of high-profile events, which includes the Six Nations rugby, Rugby World Cup, England Women’s qualifiers and friendlies, UEFA EURO 2024, FA Cup, EFL highlights encompassing the Sky Bet Championship, Sky Bet League One, Sky Bet League Two, Carabao Cup, and the EFL Trophy. Other notable events covered by ITV Sport include La Liga, the Tour de France, the NFL, Heineken Champions Cup, Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Extreme E, British Touring Car Championships, MotoGP, as well as major competitions in snooker and darts.
